Lochaber Mountain Biking: Corrour to Tulloch via the Euston Sleeper

On friday night we boarded the 2030 sleeper train at Tulloch station. Had we stayed aboard we could have been breathing the foul air of the Metropolis by 0800 on Saturday morning. Our lungs remained uncontaminated, for it was not the bright lights of the big city that had tempted us aboard. Instead the train provided an unlikely springboard into wilderness and adventure.

The 2030 from Tulloch  (arrives London Euston at 0748)

“Absolutely pishing down out there!” exclaimed the guard smugly as we wrestled our bikes from the train at lonely Corrour station. In truth it wasn't raining that hard, but it was a dark, damp, moonless night. The weather was irrelevant; a splendid night ride of some 28 km through some extremely remote terrain awaited. We swept along the shores of Loch Ossian, down Strath Ossian into the Corrour forest, across the Laggan Dam and down a short section of the A86 to finish.

21 minutes later at Corrour - we weren't even on the train for long enough to finish our lager. First cold can I've had on a train for a long time - the winter's not all bad!

The route was predominately downhill and the tracks were smooth throughout. A first class facility for outdoor recreation has been created quite by accident; forest and estate tracks make a mountain bike route, the railway provides mechanical uplift.

Action shot in the Corrour Forest

Donald has put a Google Earth map showing the route on his blog. Danny has gone one better and made a short film of the journey. There is not much actual cycling in the film – I reckon a helmet can is the way forward!